Articles by Jamila Ponton Bragg

Dallas offensive weapons WR Miles Austin and TE Jason Witten were both in action in Monday’s training camp. Austin (hamstring) participated in the full practice and is expected to start on Wednesday. Witten (spleen) was limited in practice and is doubtful for Wednesday’s game.

WR Hakeem Nicks (foot) did not practice on Monday but fully expects to be in Wednesday’s opener against Dallas. Hicks reported he is a little sore but not enough to keep him out of Wednesday’s game.

RB Trent Richardson returned to practice Monday for the first time since August 9 knee surgery. He took snaps with the first team offense but it is unclear if he will start in Sunday’s home opener against Philadelphia. The coaching staff will make a decision after watching him practice a few more times this week.

WR Austin Collie (concussion) was cleared to practice and is expected to start in Sunday’s opener at Chicago. Collie looked fresh on Monday after recovering from his third concussion in 22 months and is listed as the No. 2 receiver for the Colts behind WR Reggie Wayne.

RB Maurice Jones-Drew will be the third down back in Sunday’s opener at Minnesota. It is unclear how much game time action he will see, but he will rotate in on third down plays and get in at least a series in place of current starter RB Rashad Jennings. Jones-Drew practiced on Monday for the first time and saw action in 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. He looks physically ready to go but still needs to get up to speed on the new playbook.

DL BJ Raji sat out Packers practice on Monday after suffering a sprained ankle in the game against Kansas City. It is unclear if he will start against the 49ers on Sunday but the injury doesn’t look as bad as previously expected.

QB Michael Vick practiced on Monday and took first team snaps. He reported he was able to make throws he hasn’t been able to make in awhile.

Late reports Monday indicate Wallace will finally report to Steelers training camp on Tuesday and sign the $2.7 million one-year deal from the Steelers. Per the CBA rules he will not be eligible to play in Thursday night’s game against Carolina. But if he is in camp, expect the Steelers’ leading reciever from last year to be ready for the regular season.

Jermichael Finley (TE)–expected to play in Thursday’s preseason game against Kansas City.

Finley will see his first game time action this Thursday after missing eight of the fourteen practices (concussion and knee). Finley is one of the many offensive weapons for QB Aaron Rodgers and will be a frequent target in the Packers’ offensive plan.

Ted Ginn, Jr. (WR)–(ankle)–uncertain if he will be ready for the season opener.

Ginn injured his ankle in Sunday’s preseason win over the Broncos. If he isn’t ready by Week 1 Kyle Williams will probably handle punt-return duties.

Amukamara suffered a high ankle sprain in Friday’s preseason loss to the Bears. The Giants defense is already riddled with injuries to rookie Jayron Hosley (turf toe) and Terrell Thomas (knee) and will need role players to step up. Lucky for the Giants, this is similar to last season when they were without Justin Tuck at the beginning of the season and they know how to perform without some of their best defensive players.

First round pick Martin continues to impress Tampa Bay coaches and could win the starting spot ahead of LeGarrett Blount. At the very least it is clear he will be featured heavily in the Bucs offense and could be a late round sleeper.

Michael Vick left Monday’s game against the Patriots with an injury to his ribs after a hit on the second play from scrimmage. X-rays were negative but Vick was sore and and did not return to the game. It is unclear if he will play again before the Eagles open against the Browns on September 9.

QB Jake Locker was named the starting quarterback for the Titans on Sunday. Coach Mike Munchak is excited about what he can bring to the Titans offense, especially his ability to run and move out of the pocket. Locker running the offense will give the Titans the chance to showcase some of their weapons, including WR Nate Washington.

QB John Skelton will get the start in Thursday’s preseason game against Tennessee. Coach Ken Whisenhunt has yet to name the starting quarterback for the season, and while Skelton did get all the reps with the first team offense in practice on Monday, it was a choppy practice with a number of dropped balls, notably from WR Larry Fitzgerald and TE Rob Housler. It’s unclear who’s in the lead for the starting position, and the coaching staff is going to let this competition play out until the end of the preseason.

WR Dez Bryant left practice on Monday with patella tendinitis and will most likely rest his knee for the remainder of the preseason. With TE Jason Witten and WR Miles Austin already sustaining injuries in the preseason, the Dallas offense is without its best weapons. The status of all three is in doubt for the start of the regular season.

QB Ryan Tannehill was named the starting quarterback for the Dolphins on Monday. Tannehill will have a bit of a leg up on most rookie quarterbacks as he will be running the same offense he ran at Texas A&M with his college coach, Mike Sherman, as his offensive coordinator. He will be the first rookie quarterback to start the seaon in the team’s 46-year history.

Hakeem Nicks practiced for the first time Monday since suffering a broken foot in May. It was his first full pracctice after participating in individual drills last week, but it doesn’t look like he will see any game time action in this Friday’s preseason game. He does still seem to be on target to start the regular season.

Darren McFadden opened his first preseason game with a 4-yard run, an 18-yard reception and a 16-yard run in the opening series against the Cowboys Monday night. He’s healthy for now at least.

The Jets practiced the Wildcat offense with QB Tim Tebow for the first time this preseason. The 20 reporters present were not allowed to divulge the details of the practice but Coach Rex Ryan said they were just “normal Wildcat plays.” It will probably not be known until the regular season exactly how often the Jets will use Tebow or the Wildcat in the offense, but whatever they choose does not mean good things for QB Mark Sanchez.

CB Nnamdi Asoumugha was taken off the field in a cart after a head-on collision with Nate Allen during Monday’s practice. Early reports are he is fine and is not suffering any concussion symptoms. It is unclear if the injury will limit his practice time this week.

Ravens D got the better of the offense in during 11-on-11 drills in practice on Monday. Given the injury to Terrell Suggs and the overall aging defense, it is unclear if the Ravens D will be as dominant as past years, but so far, they look okay in camp – for what it’s worth.

RB Cedric Benson was in practice on Monday but not in pads per the CBA rules for recently signed players. Given the lack of depth in the backfield -RB James Starks (turf toe) and FB John Kuhn left practice today with an ankle injury -Benson should see a significant amount of playing time if he can learn the playbook quickly. Second-year man Alex Green is also struggling to return from a knee injury.

RB Ronnie Brown will likely see the most touches of the remaining San Diego running backs after the injury to Ryan Matthews (clavicle). However, the Chargers are planning a running back by committee with FB Le’Ron McClain and RB Curtis Brinkley seeing action as well.

TE Jacob Tamme caught the first pass from Peyton Manning in Thursday’s preseason game against Chicago. The tight end position looks be a featured part of the Broncos offense after essentially disappearing in the Tebow offense last year. Both TE Tamme and TE Joel Dressen figure heavily in the Broncos offensive plan this year.

David Garrard (QB) is currently No. 1 on the Miami depth chart ahead of Matt Moore (QB) and first round pick Ryan Tannehill (QB). As of Monday it is not clear who will get the start in Friday’s preseason game but Garrard has outplayed Moore in practice and in Saturday’s scrimmage. Miami’s offense is still coming together under new coach Joe Philbin but if Garrard wins the job, he could be a late round sleeper as he was a productive fantasy player in his last full season in 2010.

Rookie Brandon Weeden (QB) was named the Browns starter on Monday. Weeden will start but only play the first quarter in Friday’s preseason game against Detroit. Colt McCoy (QB) and Seneca Wallace (QB) will battle for No. 2 on the depth chart.

Peyton Manning (QB) looked sharp in practice Monday especially in 11-on-11 drills and in red-zone work. He will play in his first game in 18 months on Thursday night at Chicago. He seems to be improving with every practice and building chemistry with his offense.

Kevin Kolb (QB) bruised a muscle in the rib area and bruised his diaphragm in Sunday’s preseason loss to New Orleans. The injuries do not appear to be serious, and he is expected back at practice later in the week. This is Kolb’s second injury of the preseason, so potential owners may want to see if he can stay healthy before taking a chance on him in the draft.

Running Backs

Darren McFadden (RB) has successfully returned from last years foot injury and is looking forward to working with QB Carson Palmer in the offense under new head coach Dennis Allen.

Brandon Jacobs (RB) shed 15 pounds in the offseason and is looking to make a significant contribution to the 49ers offense. San Francisco ranked 31st in the NFL in third-down conversions last season and converted just 17 of 35 third-down attempts when needing two yards or fewer. Jacobs was especially successful in short-yardage situations, completing 17 of 24 attempts (two yards or fewer).

Wide Receivers

Santonio Holmes (WR) is doubtful for the Jets preseason opener against Cincinnati with a rib injury. At this point, it looks like Holmes should be fine well in advance of the regular season.

Terrell Owens (WR) signed a one-year deal with Seattle on Momday for $1 million. The Seahawks are looking to strengthen a weak receiving corp that includes injury prone Sidney Rice (WR), newly-signed veteran Braylon Edwards (WR) and holdovers Golden Tate (WR), Doug Baldwin (WR) and Ben Obomanu (WR). Owens had an impressive workout, running the 40 in 4.45 seconds but hasn’t played in the NFL since his 2010 season with Cincinnati and is coming off knee surgery. He is an improvement at the WR position in Seattle and might be worth the pick in a deep draft or a 12 team league.

QB Kevin Kolb bruised his right thigh in practice today and left the field for treatment. Although he is listed as No.1 on the depth chart it is not completely clear he will be the starter over No. 2 John Skelton.

CB Darelle Revis returned to practice Monday after leaving Sunday’s practice with tightness in his groin. He ran reps with the first team and showed no signs of being hobbled. Any owners of the Jets D should keep an eye on his injury – the Jets D is markedly better with Revis in the lineup.

RB Adrian Peterson left practice with what appears to be food poisoning. The coaching staff expects him to return with no problems Tuesday.

RB Knowshon Moreno was cleared for contact today but said he was just not ready to go yet and did not participate in the contact portion of practice, but did participate in handoff and passing drills. He is currently listed as No.2 on the RB depth chart behind RB Willis McGahee. While McGahee was quite productive last year, he posted most of his numbers after Moreno’s injury. McGahee is almost certainly still the starter, but he’s 31 and no longer has running QB Tim Tebow there to create extra running lanes.

TE Jermichael Finley returned to practice today after missing the last two practices with a concussion. He practiced in TE drills but was in sweats for full team practice in accordance with new CBA concussion rules. He’ll be in pads tomorrow.

WR Greg Jennings missed practice as he is still nursing an elbow injury, but it isn’t considered serious.

The Bears WR corp of Brandon Marshall, Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, Alshon Jeffrey and Devin Thomas all seems to be getting the best of the Bears D in these first few days of practice. QB Jay Cutler has enjoyed a good return to the practice field, and the Bears offense may actually surprise for the first time in years. Currently Marshall and Hester have the No. 1 and No 2 slots, and No. 3 spot rotates among Jeffrey, Bennett and Thomas.

The Steelers D is a bit banged up right now with LB James Harrison on the PUP list and backup Jason Worilds out for two to four weeks with wrist surgery. But second year OLB Chris Carter is filling the gap nicely for now.